Orphaned whale calf to be put down

A baby whale which has been desperately trying to suckle from a yacht in a Sydney bay in a futile bid to find its missing mother is to be humanely destroyed, Australian wildlife officers said yesterday.

The humpback whale, nicknamed "Colin" by Australian media, was found at the weekend attempting to suckle from a moored yacht at Pittwater Bay after being abandoned by its mother off Australia's east coast.

"Our hearts are breaking with what's happening with baby Colin," New South Wales state Premier Morris Iemma said after the military volunteered floats to try to get the calf back to sea earlier in the day.